Citizens disillusioned with democracy: poll

More than half of the people living in democracies worldwide think their voice is "rarely" or "never" heard in politics, according to a new study published Thursday.

Some 54 percent of citizens in democracies believe their voice doesn't have an impact on political decisions, and 64 percent think their government doesn't act in their interest, Democracy Perception Index 2018 — a survey conducted by Dalia Research, Alliance of Democracies and Rasmussen Global — found.

“Political systems around the world are currently changing with a speed that we haven't seen in almost 30 years," Nico Jaspers, CEO and co-founder of Dalia Research, said. "Right now the biggest risk for democracies is that the public no longer sees them as democratic."

Public disillusionment with democracy is higher in countries deemed democratic (64 percent), than in non-democratic nations (41 percent), according to the poll, which surveyed 125,000 respondents in 50 countries worldwide between June 6 and June 18.

Nine of the 10 worst-performing countries when it comes to "political voice" — the perception among citizens that their voice matters — are all democracies: Japan, Poland, France, Austria, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium.

Researchers noted that citizens in democratic countries may be "inherently more critical of their government" than those living in non-democratic societies, but added that "perception is often as important as reality."

The survey also found that 56 percent of respondents worldwide claimed the news "rarely" or "never" gives them a "neutral" account of world events, and 46 percent said they "rarely" or "never" feel free to share their political opinions.

"Democratic systems of governance are under severe threat, not only from foreign interference and the rise of autocratic regimes, but also from the huge crisis of confidence amongst the electorate," Nina Schick, director of data and polling at Rasmussen Global, said.

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peter lintner

Mainstream (politicians AND media) have been ignoring voters for decades. So is there any surprise?

Posted on 6/21/18 | 12:59 PM CET

X KM

hmmm, my disillusionment is with public survey companies as my perception of them is that they just try to generate interest to their services 🙂
How did they reach the conclusion of “Citizens disillusioned with democracy” when at best all they show is that people are not happy with their government, as if that is great news! The majority of people are never happy with their government (I can tell you that from the election results at every general election, without the need for a survey! it is a given that 55% – 60% always end up with a government they did not vote for), that is why we change government every 4 – 5 years.

Posted on 6/21/18 | 1:31 PM CET

Petter B.

This article is misnamed. According to the text it is not democracy that has people disappointed, but the diminishing ability of people to influence their own life. It is the -lack- of democracy.

The problem runs deeper than the political and media agenda being relevant to many people. For the last few decades, the much of political influence and decisions has largely been outsourced to various supranational technocratic or juridical bodies, leaving very little actual political influence to the elected representatives. The resistance to the TTIP is against exactly this kind of transfer of power from nationally or locally elected bodies to nebulous juridical entities where only those with the money to buy the best legal expertise have any power. As long as this transfer of power is taking place, a lot of people will vote for anyone willing to face up to this transfer of power, even if they are repugnant politically (Le Pen, Oban, Salvini, AfD, Sverigedemokratarna etc)

Posted on 6/21/18 | 1:41 PM CET

Iron Worker

“Citizens disillusioned with democracy: poll”

Wrong, citizens are disillusioned with liberal “democracy”. Democracy doesn’t come just in one global flavor.

Posted on 6/21/18 | 1:51 PM CET

peter wolfs

As long as governments are more acting in the interests of corporate lobbys and the financial maffia instead of in the interests of ordinary citizens they will more and more fall apart. But Europe and its democratic nations, as possibly the only ones, are still capable of turning that around by starting to really SERVE the people, which is funny enough what they have pledged to do but what they seem to have forgotten. By the way, serving the people doesnt mean starting a Europe First Hate movement. The art is to have the courage transform the insecurity and the fear in civilized actions of conscience. Resisting the easy hate, greed and fear solutions is what is asked of the modern polical elite. SERVE!!!